In these days of inflated salaries and egos, the million dollars that Toulon are paying Dan Carter for a six-month sabbatical in France looks money well spent. In the two internationals against England, the All Blacks fly half has regained the peerless form he showed against the Lions three years ago and confirmed that he is unmatched in the world game.

After a grim week, this was another grim result for England. Carter produced a virtuoso performance in Christchurch and for the second week running scored 22 points, did not miss a kick, scored a try and had a hand in two others. In the absence of Richie McCaw and Ali Williams, who both left the field with injury on Saturday, Carter provided the nous, leadership and calming influence that a young New Zealand team needed. He illuminated what was otherwise a messy match, punctuated by the resetting of scrums and a plethora of penalties – England conceded 18. “Carter does stress any defence because he has so many options and can take the right one in a split second,” Mike Ford, the England defence coach, said. “He is a very clever player.”

While England were again competitive in the set-piece and at the breakdown, their sterling efforts came to nought. Their endeavour could not be faulted, but execution under pressure and the ability to make the most of excellent chances could be.

Commitment alone does not win international matches. Hopefully, this will come with greater experience and exposure. In contrast, New Zealand’s ability to make opponents pay heavily for errors ensured the scoreline was damning. New Zealand are a work in progress, and it will be interesting to see how they cope without McCaw and Williams if either or both is unfit for the Tri-Nations series in a fortnight. Both limped off with ankle injuries and went to hospital for X-rays. Graham Henry, the New Zealand head coach, was not optimistic.

England’s defence off the set-piece was again exposed, the combination of Mike Tindall, who was sent to the sin-bin for the second consecutive match, and Jamie Noon did not provide the blanket that England had hoped for.

Having set up the first try by beating Noon’s challenge and setting Richard Kahui free, Carter strolled between the England centres for his try as dummy runners bamboozled the defence. Ma’a Nonu’s score had its genesis in Carter’s searing break, while Sione Lauaki burst from a scrum for the fourth try before Jimmy Cowan wrapped things up.

England also have themselves to blame for not making the game closer. In the first half two glaring opportunities were botched. Tom Varndell was most culpable. The Leicester wing who did score later, missed a sitter when England were trailing 13-0 and then Mathew Tait, who was later forced off with a cut to his mouth after a clash of heads, did the hard work in creating something out of nothing only to fail to grasp the bouncing ball. Chances like that do not come along too often, although Danny Care made the most of his with a clever dart.